This past week saw the Great One take a hit, a former NHL star gets waived and we say goodbye to a former King Left Winger.
On December 15, Captain Anze Kopitar surpassed NHL Hall of Famer and Legend Wayne Gretzky for 4th on the Los Angeles Kings All-Time Point list, now with 919 points. He scored two goals against the Detroit Red Wings to achieve that feat. He now sits 5th All-Time on the Kings’ goals scored list. The 11TH overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft has 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 36 games this season. Way to go Captain !!
On December 16th, we saw the last of Ilya Kovalchuk, as the Kings terminated his contract by putting him on unconditional waivers. The good part of this story is that they ended this relatively early in the season, as both sides didn’t seem to come together like a happy marriage and this makes way for them to showcase a prospect. The bad thing about this is that the Kings are on the hook for his contract the rest of this season and all of next season. He previously signed a 3 year, $18.75 million contract.
Sadly, former Kings left winger Vladimir Tsyplakov passed away on December 16th. Tsyplakov, 50, played 171 games for eh Kings, scoring 35 goals and 53 assists for 88 points. He was a 3rd round pick (59th overall0 in the 1995 NHL draft. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
The Kings are 4-0-1 in their last 5 and seem to be making a push up the Pacific division. They had an impressive win in overtime against the Boston Bruins last night, capped Captain Kopitar and his wicked wrist shot.
Do you think they win the Pacific division this year?
Featured Image: Jared Clinton/The Hockey News
